A fresh new year, fresh new books and fresh new challenges. Or are they? My challenges last year I would say for the most part were fun and I really enjoyed doing them. How did I do? Well I didn't meet my Goodreads goal of 50. I have had that goal forever and am always shy of it so this year I am adjusting it 45 and see if that helps me push to get there. I have done that many before but not in recent years. I would say the Read Your Shelf challenge with it's different prompts was a rounding success for me last year. I loved that I could still do a prompt based challenge while still having choices within that challenge. I completed books every single month and got them read and out of my closet and enjoyed every minute of that. In fact I read 18 books that fit into that challenge. Some crossed over with my read a book each month out of my 2019 - 2021 purchases so that helped out too. I'll be doing that one again this year. If you're interested here is a link to that: Read Your BookShelf Challenge 2022. I got some great reads knocked off my library want to read shelves too.
So this year my challenges will not be fresh and new per se as I am going to do those very same ones. My biggest goal is to get the books I already own read without bringing in too many more. I loved the Read Your Shelf challenge because rather than being a quarterly challenge with a long list of specific books it let me pick a pile of books each month and still gave me mood reading posssibilities and it was only a month before I could change things up. Sometimes with the quarterly challenge, I was finding myself not wanting my choices anymore and wanting to read something else by the time that 3rd month rolled around. I'll also continue both the Read One a Month from my Current Purchases (2020-2022) and Read One a Month From the Library Shelf. I'm also adding at least 3 non-fictions (I'm so bad at finishing non-fiction yet own so many) and at least 3 Audiobooks. So there you have it. 2022 Reading is looking good!
So my January Possibility Pile is looking like this:
READ YOUR BOOKSHELF CHALLENGE PROMPT: (A "Quiet" word in the title eg: still, silent, echo, etc)
~ While My Sister Sleeps by Barbara Delinsky (finished)
~ Echoes Among the Stones by Jaime Jo Wright (finished)
~ Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble (finished)
~ Breaking the Silence by Diane Chamberlain
AUDIOBOOK
~Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan
READ A BOOK FROM MY LIBRARY TO READ SHELF
~The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (finished)
READ A BOOK PURCHASED BETWEEN 2020 -2022
~ The Lighthouse Keeper's Daughter by Hazel Gaynor
~ As the Light Fades by Catherine West
~ Code Name Helene by Ariel Lawhon
NON-FICTION
~ They Turned the World Upside Down by Charles Martin
~ Open Mind, Open Heart by Clara Hughes
What are your reading goals this year if you have any? And what are you reading this month? Do you purchase books or are you a library reader? Do you read non-fiction consistently? Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?
You have inspired me to jump into some challenges this year! I'm usually a seat-of-the-pants reader. I have stacks of books and lists that I want to read, but I just let the spirit move me. There's nothing wrong with that, but I do love watching for your reading goals each month, so I'm going to give it a try. Stay tuned.
ReplyDeleteP.S. Once Upon a Wardrobe is one that I am really looking forward to reading.
Hi Susanne. I like to read both fiction and nonfiction, but usually end up reading nonfiction 3:1. My goal for 2022 is 35 books and I hope to exceed that. I do want to read more books from my own "to-read" shelf and not buy so many new books. I always enjoy seeing your books reading your reviews. See Friday for FFF. :-)
ReplyDeleteThese sound like good challenges. I'd probably join in if I wasn't already participating in some (mine are here: https://barbaraleeharper.com/2022/01/06/reading-plans-for-2022/).
ReplyDeleteI like that they stretch my horizons just a bit yet allow for some wiggle room, too.
I'm thinking of reading Once Upon A Wardrobe by Patti Callahan. I wasn't entirely happy with her first book about Becoming Mrs. Lewis, so I wasn't sure about this one. But I have heard good things about it.
I had not heard about The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles, but I enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow so much, I will probably look into this one.
Right now I am listening to The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow. It's an interesting take on the middle Bennet sister in Pride and Prejudice.
I like to purchase books as much as I can to support authors so they can keep writing more. Someone commented the other day that they paid $5 for a greeting card, yet people balked about paying $10 for a whole book. The problem is, we can read them a lot faster than they can write them. :-) I get some from the library. Finding deals for the Kindle app has increased my library exponentially--they often often sales from free to $1.99 for the Kindle app.
I gravitate to fiction, but I read a good bit of nonfiction as well.
I DEFINITELY prefer fiction and love all genres except not so much science fiction. ALthough some is ok. I love historical fiction the best especially the Civil War Era, the WW2 era and the 1950s.
ReplyDeleteThis month I am finishing up the non fiction book Becoming Myself that the small group I lead is reading/discussing. HIGHLY recommend but get the study guide to go with it as it is not a great stand alone book. the questions make the book for sure. My review will be up at some point in the next week or so.
I'm also reading a non fiction history book about the firetowers in the southern Adirondack mountains which I have climbed! (well the ones that are still standing I mean...several of the fire towers were torn down).
I'm currently a little more than half way through a wonderful fiction read (part drama part family saga part mystery) called The Attic On Queen Street. It's VERY good.
I hardly ever buy books.....unless they are to add to my Adirondack history collection or a study book for small group Bible study. I much prefer to go to our wonderful town library where you can get just about any book on the bestseller list and then some! ANd if the town library doesn't have it we have about 10 other libraries in the system to choose from including 3 major cities near us :)
I LOVE TO READ!
Looking forward to reading your reviews.